Scotland winger James Forrest will be a reluctant, if hardly impartial
observer when Celtic host Spartak Moscow in their final Group G Champions
League tie at Parkhead on Wednesday night.

The 21 year-old has not featured in the first team since October due to a hamstring problem but he’s hoping that Neil Lennon’s side manage to better Benfica’s result in Barcelona and qualify for the last 16 for the first time since 2008.

One of the biggest dangers to their progression will be Forrest’s former mentor, Aiden McGeady, who moved to Russia in 2010 in a £9 million move which helped to fund Lennon’s revamp of Celtic’s playing staff.

McGeady is concerned that he may receive a hostile reception when he returns to his roots but Forrest hopes, and believes, that he’ll be greeted warmly by the home fans.

“To be fair, I don’t think he will get booed,” he said. “Our fans know that he left on good terms and the fee the club received helped bring a lot of good players to the club.

“Obviously, I hope he gets a good reception but I’m more concerned that we get the right result against Spartak.

“Aiden is a top player. We regard him as Spartak’s best player and their biggest threat so we’ll need to close him down.

“He’ll want to show our fans that he’s still got it. He wasn’t too happy with how he performed against us in Moscow but this will be his first time back at Celtic Park so he’ll have a point to prove.

“Aiden plays in the same position as me so I used to watch him every day in training and learn from him.”

Forrest should be available for selection before the end of the year but his recovery has taken longer than he had hoped.

“I’m getting there,” he said. “I should be back training in two weeks and, hopefully, playing again before Christmas. That’s the plan, anyway.

“Missing the European ties has been frustrating but now I just want to get fit again. The boys have done well so far and they can do it again on Wednesday.

“The run we’ve had at home recently happens to all the best teams. There are times when you struggle against opponents that you’re expected to beat.

“Often those games can be harder than the ones when you’re the underdogs but all we need is a couple of wins in a row and we’ll be back to where we were.”

Beating Spartak would be helpful in that regard and Forrest admits that he’ll be watching through his fingers as his colleagues attempt to prove that there is Champions League life after the Group of Death.

“Wednesday is massive for the club, probably the biggest game we’ve had in the last five seasons but everybody believes we can get through,” he said.

“They’ve got a new manager so whoever they pick will be trying to impress him: they’ll want to win as well.

“Our way has always been to take each game as it comes and then see what happens. But if someone had said at the start that we’d be in with a chance of qualifying from the group going into the last tie at home then we’d have taken it.

“The atmosphere when we beat Barcelona was the best I’ve ever experienced, even though I wasn’t playing that night.

“It should be similar against Spartak and I’m sure that if we can get an early goal that the crowd will be right behind us.

“Unfortunately, I don’t enjoy being a spectator – in fact, I hate it. It’s worse watching games than it is playing in them. I find it too nerve-wracking.”

Age is not a barrier for Lennon's Lions, says Jim Craig

Lisbon Lion Jim Craig believes that age shouldn’t be a barrier for Celtic as they attempt to fight on two fronts.

Neil Lennon’s side may claim a place in the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday night but European success has come at a cost, with Saturday’s embarrassing home draw against Second Division Arbroath the latest in a series of domestic disappointments at Parkhead.

Tom Boyd, the club’s treble-winning captain in 2001, pointed out last week that the average age of Martin O’Neill’s team who reached the Uefa Cup final in Seville two years later was 29, while everyone in Neil Lennon’s squad is under 30.

His conclusion was that their inconsistency can be attributed to a lack of experience.

Craig, though, won’t accept that. The average age of the 10 outfield players who started the 2-1 win over Barcelona at Parkhead last month was 25 which, coincidentally, was exactly the same as for the Lions when they beat Inter Milan to win the European Cup in 1967.

Stevie Chalmers the oldest outfield player at 30. Craig was 24, while Tommy Gemmell and Bobby Lennox were 23 and Jimmy Johnstone and Bobby Murdoch only 22.

“People forget that quite a few of the Lions had played when Celtic reached the semi-finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1964 and 1966, so they were used to coping with big occasions,” he said

“Similarly, while people talk about how coming back from 3-0 down to get a draw at Rugby Park was the turning point for Lenny’s team last season, the most significant issue were the European results.

“No disrespect to Kilmarnock, but players will have felt a lot better about getting draws away to Rennes and Udinese.

“Those are the results and performances which stay in players’ minds.They boost your ego and your confidence.

“Anyway, it’s not about age and it never was – it’s about how well you’ve been prepared for these games and, so far, Neil has done a great job with the boys.”